Dusk

A powerful mood expressed here John.  It has a solemn beauty, along with a bit of unease at the onset of night.

 

Well done,

David

 

Thanks for that comment, you summed up my mood very well.

 

John, you have portrayed a very moody scene and done so extremely well.  You have just enough detail to keep the viewer interested and searching throughout the image.   Very well done.

Any introductory comments, elves? I'm interested in why this pick. For my two cents, there is potential for a nice panoramic across the center. Otherwise, a lot of dark space that doesn't contribute much for my eyes.

Perhaps precisely to elicit a constructive and insightful, though of course arguable, remark such as this:

I do not know why this happens, but I've noticed it in some of my darker foreground sunrise and sunset photos. If you go look at this photo in John's gallery there is more detail in the foreground, then there is in this version above. Enlarge it and there is even more. Maybe still not to everyones taste, but the difference is very noticeable.

Doug, you are correct. I looked at the image on John's workspace at it is exactly as you describe.

The way the light cascades off the tree on the right is very nicely done. For my taste, I would like to see more of the landscape and sky. Not by much but enough to show a little detail, this would allow our eyes to work their way to the money shot in the middle

Actually, I think the image is fine as it stands. Nature includes both light and dark. Each is equally beautiful, though not necessarily for the same reasons. John's image captures both quite creatively and artistically. To me, the image's primary subject is not the landscape, but rather the light and the dark, and the colors that highlight them.

This is very interesting, as my design of a photograph comes second to the current obsession I have with a long dead photographer. I alway look back to various photographers who inspire me. On this walk it was Edward Steichen, and in particular "The Pond—Moonlight" Of course inspiration is different from emulation, which I don't do. It seems to me we have to go through some sort of process every time photography technology changes, At the moment I feel like I am working from naturalism to modernism and forward.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pond%E2%80%94Moonlight

This image is defining the dusk in a picture,well I want to see some details other than the glimpse of light that in its way to disappearance, but I couldn't , and since English is my second language and though I know what dusk is meant to be ,but I went to a dictionary to more accurately defining dusk ,and the big book says, the darker part of the twilight especially at night, and the darkness caused by shutting out the light ,hence I can't argue with photographer asking for more to see or more details in the image ,cause he titled his image dusk ,and presented it in a very defined way artistically and linguistically.

I think it works well enough because, even in the darkest areas, I get a feel that something's there. It doesn't just seem like a solid mass of black to me. I find the soft shafts of light on the lower right evocative. I like Howard's idea for a crop but think it went quite a bit too far. Maintaining a lot of the dark surroundings, for me, makes for the drama. Such use of negative space gives my imagination room to wander and the light more space in which to be dramatic.

I was a little surprised to hear it was inspired by Steichen's Pictorialist photo The Pond—Moonlight, though John was clear in saying he wasn't trying to emulate Steichen. The Steichen does show much more detail in the darkness, which I think is very effective in a dark photograph. I think detail can be preserved in darkness and add so much to the mood and atmosphere of negative space without the effectiveness of the main "light show" being undermined. I also find this photo rather sharp and dramatic considering it was inspired by such a highlight of Pictorialism, which tends toward a much softer focus (typical of that genre) and much less dramatic and more impressionist quality.

I thought the photo was interesting when I first viewed it, but that was it. Then I noticed what appears to be the face of a reclining figure in the rock formation. Not what appears to be a nose directly under the sun. Those are crossed fingers on the figure I'm seeing. The face is at a 45 degree angle on the side of the formation to the left of the sun and it's facing to the right. The reason I bring it up is not to share my unusual imagination, but to mention how seeing that figure transformed the photo for me. It made it mystical. I'm not the type of person who calls things "mystical" often, but I can't think of a better way to describe it. Seeing the reclining figure in the rocks enhanced the other elements in the photo for me. The small foreground tree under the light and the lit path became larger symbols of the journey of life and/or rebirth. I have an interpretation for the trees on the ridge in the distance. I'll leave that up to your imagination. The dark space that I initially thought needed to be cropped now provides the perfect shroud for the reclining figure, and the sunset ties it all together.

I'm curious if anyone else sees what I'm describing (not just the reclining figure, but the effect on the entire photo when imagining that there is a reclining figure in the scene). Also, has anyone experienced this phenomena with another photo- a dramatic change in the way you see the photo from the way you saw it on first viewing. I'm not talking about accidently overlooking an important element, but instead seeing the same elements in a very different way.

I like the time of the day of this shot when the sun transforms a landscape. I can feel the solitude of this vista. The fiery glow in the distance. Nice indeed. Relaxing as well. But I totally agree with one that says that the power of this landscape is lost in a small print or frame. It needs a much more immersive size. Like an IMAX screen where one can get lost in the immensity of the space. ( Even the enlarged gallery original is more enticing)Permits viewer to concentrate on the features in the center and also some of the planes that lead thereto, that get lost in this tiny reproduction. I am a sucker for sunsets and their varying levels of light and dark. Always fascinating. This one is not well served mainly because it needs a bigger canvas to my taste anyway..No I do not feel it need the pano approach. Let the eyes do the cropping within the visual cortex I say. Even a square can envelop if the elements are all there to see and one takes some time to wander around. This one is discussion worthy.